I forgot my halter/showmanship training, that was $125 but when he was 17 months I up and decided to take him to state fair... I gave the guy like 10 days to get him ready! (I hadn't done ANYTHING with him other then lead him).

One of the girls in our barn sent her horse for professional training at a cost of $3000 and 3 months. Was it worth it?? The horse came back knowing very little, Didn't know side passing, didn't know how to back, didn't know leads. She wouldn't cross tie after coming back and only kept twirling the lead. Everything she did was with the lead in her hand, I went with a guy to see his quarter horses training after one month. After seeing what the horse had learned I told him to take the horse back and leave it with me for a month. It covered hundreds of miles in the next month and became a real working horsegrooming, saddling ??

It is interesting for me to read all these posts and hear about people sending their horses out for one to three months and coming back with such disastrous results. I don't think people realize how long it really takes to create a solidly trained animal and even a horse ridden daily for one month (to grueling a schedule in my opinion especially for a horse unaccustomed to training) how little has actually been established. At that point a horse has barely been sensitized to it's rider, and has only approached the idea of communicating specific cues in order to accomplish a result. For a green horse in a month of training, the idea of a lead has barely been acomplished, and the accuracy of asking for the correct lead and having the horse pick it up is not 100% and that is with the trainer. So a horse who has been recieving very specific cues for one month is expected to go back to a rider whose accuracy cannot be expected to be that of the trainers and the trainer ends up being blamed for the horses confusion. If the rider wants a well trained animal where it is properly acustomed to the scenario and will give dependable response in that scenario, either with giving the correct response to a cue, or not spooking when a scarry object is presented, can take years, not months. I can only think that most trainers give what their time limit allows, and I think people who have never worked with green horses don't realize how quickly training can be undone if they don't take the time to work with the trainer and learn how to properly communicate with the horse. This should take at least six months for green horses or horses with major issues or training a horse in a field where you have no expereince. I think sending a horse away for 30 days of training is only a down payment, and cannot be expected to give you a completly solid horse with a solid foundation in that way of thinking. You have to know how to properly reinforce your investment and sometimes that depends on how long it takes to train you Time is sometimes the most expensive thing you can invest in horses.

Troubled TB ~"A thorn by any other name will prick just as deep."@-'--,---

I don't think people realize how long it really takes to create a solidly trained animal and even a horse ridden daily for one month (to grueling a schedule in my opinion especially for a horse unaccustomed to training) how little has actually been established. At that point a horse has barely been sensitized to it's rider, and has only approached the idea of communicating specific cues in order to accomplish a result.

Agree. That's one of the reasons I did not send mine to the trainer. 3 months would be too costly. One month I don't think would make much difference (especially considering the fact all of them not riding every day for the most part, at least from what I know about trainers around). Plus for some horses new environment can take forever to adjust.

Another plus with the instructor/trainer I'll take him to is that once he reaches a certain point, I'll start taking lessons on him, so she can teach both of us. I'm excited about that. I can't wait for the Spring to roll around again

I am a horse trainer in the Austin Texas area and I charge $1000 per month and that gets you m-f at least one hour per horse (prevents the horse from getting too tired and quitting on me). I follow the same training routine since I was about 17 years old and I am 33 now and use to break wild mustangs in and they are tough. When it comes to training it all depends on the attitude of the horse and intelligence and willingness. A lot can be accomplished in one month, however it is utmost important for the owner to be apart of the training process because the trainer can only do so much with the horse but if the owner isn't willing or able to keep up with the training, then the horse will revert back to the bad habits it had previously. If you were to send your horse away for training make sure it is close enough for you to drop in and see exactly what is going on and make sure you ask LOTS of questions. If you feel uncomfortable about anything, make sure you talk to the trainer about any concerns. You should always watch a trainer on a few horses and find out the background and style (Clinton Anderson, Lyons ect.) I go to my clients and as long as they have a round pen, I can train. I can train without the round pen, it just takes longer and when you are paying $1000 per month, you should get the biggest bang for your buck. One other thing I want to mention, make sure the trainer has a couple of different methods for getting the horse to do one thing as they may not respond as well to one method but catch on to the other method. With Respect,
Natalie Crump
Equine Innovation.com

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